Various machines are well known in the prior art for processing wire leads wherein terminals are applied to one or both ends of wire leads. One such apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,019,678 issued to Schwalm et al. on Feb. 6, 1962. In this machine, which is known in the trade as an Ampomator automatic lead making machine, a wire lead is fed into a first transfer mechanism which presents the leading end of the wire lead (which is connected to a source of the supply) to a first terminal applicator, applies a terminal to the leading end of the wire lead, and then positions the wire lead in a second position wherein it is fed past cutting and stripping means, the wire lead fed past the cutting and stripping means being received by a second transfer means, the machine further cutting and stripping the wire lead between the end which has a terminal initially affixed thereto and its source of supply, the trailing end of the cut wire lead then being transferred to a second terminal applicator. After a terminal is applied to the trailing end the wire lead is then discarded from the machine. The machine shown in the patent is capable of processing only a single wire. A commercial variation of the machine shown in the Patent, which is known as the Model IV-C, is capable of processing two wire leads, however, in this model both wire leads should be of substantially the same diameter. Furthermore, as the terminal applicators which apply terminals to the trailing ends of the cut wire leads are disposed in close side-by-side relationship to each other, it is not practical to perform substantially different work operations under the end of the cut wire leads, such as bending terminals, solder dipping, applying insulating sleeves, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,055 which issued to Hammond on June 8, 1971 discloses an apparatus which measures and cuts a pair of wire leads and presents the ends of the paired wire leads sequentially to spaced apart work stations which are capable of performing varying work operations upon the trailing and leading ends of the wire leads. While the machine shown in this Patent has gained widespread commercial acceptance, it has the disadvantage in that each pair of wires is of substantially the same length and of substantially the same diameter.
The Scharf Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,267,556) discloses an apparatus which applies a terminal to the leading end of a wire lead which extends away from a source of supply, feeds the wire past a cutting and stripping mechanism after the terminal or the like has been applied to the leading end, and provides a conveyor mounted upon endless roller chains which conveys the trailing end of the wire lead after it has been cut past another terminal applicator. This prior art machine has the disadvantage in that it is incapable of simultaneously processing a plurality of wire leads which may be of differing diameters and lengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,584 issued Mar. 25, 1975 discloses a fully automatic apparatus which measures, cuts and strips a plurality of wire leads, which may be of differing diameters and lengths. Terminals or the like are applied to the leading ends of the wire leads, and the plurality of cut wire leads are transferred to a conveyor which subsequently indexes the trailing ends of the cut wire leads past a plurality of terminal applicators or other work performing structures to a discharge station. The conveyor has a plurality of clamp assemblies mounted on an endless chain.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,702 teaches of a harness making machine having an indexable conveyor with wire jigs provided thereon for holding wires in parallel relationship with the wire ends extending to one side of the conveyor. Each of the wire jigs comprises a plurality of individual wire clamps stacked against each other. The individual wire clamps can be moved from the stack to an extended position so that the wires are individually presented to the wire processing machines.